TIMBER STORAGE IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES. 35 
The fact that we are dealing here with two fungi which are known 
to be widely distributed in lumberyards in the United States, not only 
in the region covered by this study, but also along the Pacific coast, 
coupled with our knowledge of the rather common occurrence and 
seriousness of the same organisms in buildings throughout the same 
range, is a cause for grave concern on the part of both lumbermen 
and builders. 
Both fungi can readily be introduced into buildings by means of 
diseased lumber, and it is very probable that at least some of the 
outbreaks in compara- 
tively new buildings 
which have come to 
the attention of the 
writer can be attrib- 
uted to this source. 
Besides Merulius 
lachrymans and Co- 
niophora cerebeTla the 
writer has twice en- 
countered another or- 
ganism of much the 
same habit of growth 
and destructiveness. 
This organism, the 
identity of which has 
not yet been deter- 
mined, was first found 
in a retail lumberyard 
in Alabama and later 
in a cotton warehouse 
in Mississippi. The 
owner of the lumber- 
yard had appealed to 
the writer for assist- 
ance in eradicating a very serious infection, so a careful inspection 
was made at the first opportunity and the organism was found in 
great abundance in all three of the open storage sheds, where it had 
destroyed many of the foundation timbers and also passed upward 
into the stored lumber (PL X, figs. 1-4). The first serious infection 
noted in this yard occurred six years ago, when two carloads of 6 by 6 
pine timbers piled in the open yard were so badly decayed to a height 
of 6 to 8 feet in the piles as to be rendered .useless for building pur- 
poses. This material was at once disposed of for firewood. Three 
years later a further outbreak occurred in two of the open storage 
sheds and in an addition attached to the small office building. Dur- 
ing 1913 a serious infection was also found in a third open shed 
Fig. 36. — The solid type of built-up plauk foundation. 
This permits air circulation beneath the piles in only 
one direction. The ends of the stock have been 
painted to prevent checking. 
